New Year’s Resolutions: Sweden Edition

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Can you believe that 2017 is almost over?! I’m freaking out. It’s already over a year since I started my master’s degree. This only means that thesis is coming, and is coming fast! But for now let’s not freak out about the thesis, that is a problem for the future me. Instead, I want to take some time and reflect on the good things and the failures of this year and give you guys a few new year’s resolution ideas for 2018.

December 31st is always a special day. Last year I was in a parking lot in the northernmost city of Sweden (Kiruna) looking at the fireworks and drinking champagne with my friends. Fast forward one year and now I’m almost done with my studies.

A big thing from where I come from is the “New Year’s Resolutions” where basically people set some sort of “goals” for the next year, I don’t know how to explain it in a better way (Wikipedia probably knows how to explain it).

In the spirit of this tradition, and to inspire you guys. I present you a list of the 9 New Year’s Resolutions: Study in Sweden Edition.

Try new stuff.

This one is pretty straightforward. Just step outside your comfort zone and try new stuff. Whether is new food, new languages, new hobbies, new sports….you get the point.

Don’t procrastinate too much.

If you are a student and you don’t procrastinate I’m pretty sure there is something wrong with you, or you just have the magic formula – if that’s the case please let me know in the comments. The key in this one is in the words “too much”; “don’t procrastinate” alone sounds a bit too extreme for me. For the past 25 years of my life I’ve told this to myself, and every year I put a bit more effort into not procrastinating too much and so far so good.

Just think about it, you are or you will be in case that you apply and get admitted (don’t forget to apply, by the way, deadline is January 15th) studying in Sweden, a opportunity that not everyone gets, so might as well do your best and get the most of your time in here.

On a side note, this one is a tough one for me. I’m an enthusiast of naps, but also I’m an enthusiast of getting stuff done, so, it’s a bit tricky for me.

Explore Swende’s nature.

If someone would ask me to describe Sweden with two words I would most definitely say “amazing landscapes”. The place is just insanely cool, no matter the season Sweden’s landscapes are always 10/10. And guess what? There is A LOT to explore out there. There are thousands of amazing lakes to see the sunset, there are thousands of parks to roam around.

Don’t take my word for it. Just look at these photos that I took the past year.

Improve your Swedish.

There are a few options out there. SFI is the one I’m doing right now, but there are many more. Duolingo is a great to get started, learningswedish.se is also great, language cafes, etc. A few months ago I wrote about learning Swedish with today’s media. At the end of the day is not about the places where it is possible to learn Swedish. It’s about the time we spend on it.

Organize better.

Just because I like to maximize my “going out and having a couple of beers” time, as well as my “taking naps and playing video games the entire weekend” time I organize myself LOL you guys must think that I’m extremely lazy. No, but let’s be real for a second here. Organizing your activities saves you so much time. That’s why I always include this one in my New Year’s Resolutions, every year I can do a little better when it comes to organization. A quote that a teacher here in Chalmers had as a screensaver got stuck in the back of my head and its related to this point. The quote is from Mark Twain and it goes like this: “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection“

Land a summer internship or a job.

A summer internship gives you an insight of the Swedish labor market, it also looks great on your resume and expands your network. It doesn’t matter if you want to stay in Sweden after your degree or go back home, an internship abroad looks great. It is a bit too early to start thinking about summer, but for now, just keep in mind that it is a good idea.

As a second-year student, my new objective is not a summer job or an internship. My new goal is to find a job and stay in Sweden after I finish my degree.

Eat more sustainable.

It might sound too dramatic but food production is getting out of control, and believe it or not, the choices we make have a great impact on our environment. So, why not every now and then give up beef for a while and eat more plant-based sustainable meals.

Ride the bicycle more often.

Sweden is extremely bicycle-friendly. Every city has the infrastructure for riding the bicycle without getting killed by a car. I live on a hill and Chalmers is on a different hill so, every ride is a challenge for me (especially because my condition is not the best). Now, I will start my thesis I hope to ride the bicycle more often. At least that’s the plan for 2018!

Source: Apelöga/imagebank.sweden.se

Pick up new skills.

This one relates a bit to the first one. Picking up new skills will open your new doors and give you the chance to explore new opportunities.